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A 



ADISCOURSE 



DELIVERED IN THE 



SECOND LUTH. CHURCH OF SELINSGROVE, PENN'A. 



On Tfeursday, ibe 7th of December, 1865, 

THE DAY APPOINTED BY THE 

PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES, 

AS A DAY OF 

NATIONAL THANKSGIVING 

f OR THE 
RESTORATION OF PEACE. 



BIT SIEV. S. BOMER. A. M. 

(published by request). 



AMERICAN LUTHERAN 

SiLiNSGaovE, Pbnn'a., 
1866. 



^ 



THE JUBILEE OF 1865 

OB 
THE PEACE WE CEILEBRATE, 



ADISCOURSE 

DELIVERED m THE 

SECOND LUTH. CHURCH OF SELINSGROVE, PENN'A, 
On TtaLursday, the 7th of Decemhi&r, 1865, 

THE DAY APPOINTED BY THE 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 

AS A DAY OF 

NATIONALlTHANKSGIVINe 

FOE THE 
RESTORATION OF PEACE. 



BY REV. S. DOMER. A. m. 

M 

(published by request). 



'AMERICAN LUTHERAN :'^ 

Selinsgrove, Penk'a., 
1866. 



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; . Psalm 76, 1(?.; ;*?Suye]7 the, Wrath of irfaii sbalV praiM ,.the(>f ,thj^ 
remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." 

" Some great victory has been achieved — sottr& splendid tritimph- 
over an insolent foe,— and novr, to grace the achievement, and to honor 
the "God of Jacob," whose mighty power is recognized as the centre 
of all our triumphs, the Psalmist in the name of the- Church, attunes 
his harp anew and sounds forth his rapture into the ear of God : "The 
stout-hearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep ; and none of tho 
m^n of might have found their hands. At thy rebute, God of 
Jacob, both the chariot and the horse are cast into a dead sleep. Thou 
even thou,'^^!^t ^tlo 'be feared ; and who may stand in thy sight whett 
once thou art angry? Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from 
heaven; the earth feared and was still, when God arose to judgmenti 
to save all the meek of the ekrth. — Surely the wrath of man shalJ 
praise thee ; the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.'^ 

We have here a very eleay and emp'hatic announcement of the 
do'ctrine of Frovidence- — ^that the hand of God is concerned in the af- 
fairs of men-^that He directs, controls and over-rules, in his own soV- 
reignty whatever man may propose, design or attempt to execute. -^ 
We have here also an exemplification of the believer's attitude in re- 
lation to this doctrine; he is ever ready to acknowledge ity and to find 
matter of devout praise and thanksgiving to God for the results at- 
tained. Truth never changes. *,^Th,e eternal years of God are hers." 
And independent of Bien's faith or unbelief, the truth of God's gov- 
^nment in relation to the nations of earth, remains the same through 
every age; a6d men difi"er pflily in their relation to the truth ; while 
some live. along, in the barren speculations of an irrational unbelief, 
and endeavor to satisfy themselves . by resting wholly in secondary 
causes, believers, in all ages, more wisely than others, rise to the high- 
er altitudes of truth, and in the revelation of a serene and well-order- 
ed faith in tfee Caus.Q qf %l\ Causes, find occasion for exultation and 



praise amid all the revolutions of time, and the vicissitudes of human 
affairsr.f 7^h|i^t^^i^iei)f theyPsalmist^kiid^^ui^ m^ \q iflentical. 

The saine unchangeable truth itispires andirifigoratfes it. ^' 

We meet to day in obedience to the Proclamation of the Presi- 
dent of the United States to faH -in with the faith and practice of be- 
lievers in the days of the Psalmist, and of devout and God fearing men 
in every age of the world, to trace Grod'^s hand in the triumph' which 
we celebrate, and to praise Him for his Wonderful goodness toward us^ 
in restoring peace and prosperity to us as a nation. And well may we 
come intQ.thfi courts of the Most High ,;with,thanlvsgivings and songs 
of prais^' ;if,.w,e. ;really believe; that , God. is our- Lord, and -that His 
great power, ^isdom, and mercy have been concerned in bringing us 
outiinto the wealthy plj^^^e Qf^|)ie^9e^^^i\d|.^J?^j^)^n9^Sj,Wihic^,,^Ji,^§^^^ 
been made our portion. Tiorf) j|^[^ -vi^d -/.oil- Jioii'/^q-, or/j ho.JTn9ff-.iu.o,Ja 
■ The Rest^hation, of Peace I 'o^TM , .# f^^ v -^i^^ W^ ^/ 1 A^/j 
thanksgivings and gladness to day, ..yj^ \,- •. ■ r, .; ■-.,,,.;;, 

;•- ,^-Peace! How sweet the sound ! . HAW.manifold its blessingal^r^ 
Surely no que can fail to rejoice in the fact that the din of war has 
passed away, &nd that the morning of tranquillity and rest ha^ agai9 
di^wned upon; ouj* land, sq recently distracted^, convulsed aivl bleeding 
in every part. Where are the men, and who are they, that cannot re- 
joice in the returp; of peace?, Are we not all "peace , men" now, 
thou^ '% was but yest^etday that the voice of the true me4 of ,^}|ei5^^, 
tion called oulu long and loud for war I We are for peace, we are en- 
raptured withiilraaw, .an.d would. Ma JiAv^ it. .establishi§4 i»u^4g^t§Q?»^2 

CfSS •foi^eiYei^^.r. pi-i^ "' ' -ufi 10 jK.liiJj^ftlfquTOXD aj; ofcfj; oto:' /ukA f^W" 
bar What a wonderful period we have passed thtough ! While the 
diays of darkness were upon us, how our hearts sank within us when- 
ever we brought up before our minds the glowing picture of our hap^ 
py country in the days of her former quietude and prosperity^ — a pic^ 
ttire living only in the memory of the past ! How often we sighed for 
those departed y^ars I And how ungrateful we seemed to ourselves 
to have been, as we considered what cause we had for thankfulness in 
view of the prosperity which had attended us as a nation, peacefiai, 
great, and happy. '""'^ 

- 'nit is irue we had some national enthusiasm — yes, I believe we 
ii&d DQUch genuine ^teriotisin— we loved our country. So clearly had 



we seen tte hand- of God in the planting and training of our nationali- 
ty, that our love for the nation took on a sacred tinge and our patriot- 
ism constituted a part of our piety : and with our prayers for the pre- 
servation of this Republic, under its, benignant government,- we had 
thought it almost impossible that any of its own cheriskedsons could 
ever prove so Recreant to duty, and so bliiid to their own interests, as 
to conspire against it, and to seek its utter ruin. Alas ! in our pleni- 
tude of joy, when peace shed her blessings so liberally On our pathway 
to greatness, we became intoxicated with our prosperity, and neglected 
to guard the avenues of danger. And yet we felt comparatively se-; 
cure even when dangers began to mantle our sky with clouds j and 
not until the war clouds actually burst upon us by the aggressions of 
traitors in arms against the government, did we wake up to realize the 
nation's peril. The terrible result is befote thre world! Then came 
war — stern, relentless, cruel, bloody war ! and most dreadful of .alb/ 
ar war among ourselves — Civil war, always the most terrible of all ■ 
wars !^ — Then came the time ''that tried men's souls." Thousands up- 
on thousands infatuated by the infernal heresy of "State Sovereignty^-^jj^ 
and of a supposed "higher Civilization" which found its nourishmeritt 
in the oppression of a race, regarded as an inferior one, -gathered! in- 
hostile armies to measure their strength with the loyal masses of the 
Bepublic, and to overthrow the very power under which they had 
grown up and attained the strength of which they so insolently boast- 
ed. An imperilled nation called to her sons, who yet loved her, t^t 
rally around her standard, and save her from anarchy and ruin, i^^^ 
was the cry heeded ? The bugle blast made warriors of a milliofl oft 
men, who had the day before been following the quiet pursuits of civil 
life J and the solemn adjuration trembles on their lips that thexe sh^all 
be no peace until the last armed foe is laid in the dust^ or sues for" 
mercy at the hands of a government so basely betrayed, so wickedly, 
insulted and outraged! — The work of death is inaugurated, and the' 
demon of war holds high carnival on the plains of the nation 3 and 
not until the solemn vow of the loyal millions is fulfilled does;,t^g. 
sword again return, to its scabbard. .. ■ .^^^(X 

What an eventful period the four or five years through w-hicji^. 
we have just passed ! a period which finds no parallel in history whem, 
it is considered in all its varied aspects and bearings. What a wij^, 



grandeur conneeted with the vast operations of the war for the nation 
during these years ! How the thunders of artillery awoke the echoes 
along mountains, and rivers, and woodlands, and plains,.— on the land, 
on the sea ! What engines of destruction were called into terrible 
use to carry death and suffering to thousands indefinitely multipliedi, 
in order to save a nation planted in blood and tears ! I^ow the gory 
forms and mangled bodies of our fellow citizens were multiplied be- 
yond all calculation, in order to beat back the fiery waves of anarchy 
and dissolution which threatened to overwhelm all that was good, and 
lovely, and grand and glorious in the land ! What unheard oftorr 
tures, what sufferings of hunger and nakedness, of sickness, and pain 
and anguish in prisons of the South under a system of inhumanity 
which must forever remain without parallel in the annals of man's 
vilest "inhumanity to man,'' a system so base and vile that an attempt 
to apologize for it is a fresh insult to humanity and Grbd, and only/ 
serves to reveal the unutterable infamy of those who devised and: ex- 
ecuted it ! What undefined atrocity and crime in those infamous 
attempts to scatter suffering, sorrow and death over the loyal portions 
of the Republic by the smuggling commerce of infectious diseases, 
and the ^mpolymentof midnight incendiaries to lay whole cities rin> 
ashes, and thus add numberless tliousands «f innocent women and" 
children to the sacrifice of blood, and if possible, turn the whole land i 
into the very Valley of Tophet! And finally, to crown the infamy of 
the destroyers of the nation with sotuc kind of dielliBh' dignity, thb 
skulking assasin is suborned to strike at the national life by destroying' 
the life of its distinguished and incorruptible chief! - What a period 
of darkness these years have been I ^ And is this period now all ot'et 
aiid gone ? It seems almost too good to be' tru6: It seeins like a' 
dream, so wierd and strange— too awful to have -taken place 1 The 
nation rouses up as from.'soM^ terrible nigh ttiSa^e^'-with the sweat and 
blood dripping from every pore !—' • ■— ' • - . ..?-:; 

But the long agony is over ! To day, how changeii is all! Eich-^ 
mbnd is ours! Charleston is' k)Tirs I The w'hole country^] sours ! The 
four insurgent armies surrendered tli4mselves in about as many weeks, 
and now from the St. Lawrence to Oape Sable a^d the E,io G-ra-nde, 
there is no armed -resistiance to the authority of the United States. — 
Our own armies are'fa'st disbandhiar as useless, aud onr warworn veter' 



ana' wlb^' Have "sp^'^ maintained 

the national integrity are again at home, or returning home, receiving 
4s thev have merited the grateful plaudits of their countrymen. 

■/^j W '.potTi-n^^Thou art beautiful^ peace;!, ^t- 7b/li qij,gaiio?io'ia 

ItoI -c-f^ ,^>l|h^^ ?^^"^^^^^-^^"^^^ . nbpB ila/dw oassa 

■ : Like the glad golden horn ,.. .v*^ . ' ,.' , / 

Of plenty in our dreams : ^^^^^^ e^u^ftios 8idd JbnA 

xjH .7:;.' J T'-M!- j^Lift up thy holy voice,^-^3TW fti?^** novo cterff aaiijbalj 

jiJ '■-Ofofoi ffino It may not be in vain 5' .r?r 3.o 'iL>hnir.cKO'i sxfi gaiu-Jtaox, 

■.'■ if "^=in7q-,fi"= earth's bright page, tbe,goJde.^^g^^^ ^.^^ ,. 

^ < May e-Iad the world agajn." ' . , ' . . 

►;;;,, .„.The return "Of- peace^^;fes--Tthi^ i^ tl;^ 

gether to-day. Ought we not to feel glad beyond expression on this 
festal day? Did we not wish for peace ?, long forit?| pray for it? 
and shall we not now rejoice because .that time- Of glacyiess has eome 
again? But is this the only consideration involved- in our present 
Qonvocation ;? Is it only to be glad ? .^ We,might be glad and rpjoice? 
.,2kP,d yetwe migh,t not utter a syllable of -t^anksgiying to Grod.-. The 
President's. proclamation has a deeper signifioaney than this. God is 
to be gratefully acknowUdgecl iif the .event lohicji. we ..celebrate. We 
•are, to.faljlin with the faith and, practice of the. Psalmist, and, trace 
tjie hand of Grod in our deliverance and blessings. , ,,^;i., '^A^oh r '--^ 

Now if there are any yho do not believe that Providence Ha^- had 
.anything to do, with the war ji^st closed,, such.will, h^ve, no^occasion 
for thanksgiving to Grod to day. Wherefore thank God when you to- 
tally ignore ^his^ agency in this coDflict.,? Thank Him for what ? And 
are iiiot thqs,e practically guilty. o,f,tJie.|^ndorsement of that hateful infi- 
delity which refuses to know anythiog of a "Higher Power or Law" 
in national affaii-s, who, whatever they may profess, yet designedly re- 
fuse to associate themselves with dayout worshippers on occasions like 
the present, when in the very spirit of our holy religion^ official proc- 
lamations invite them to the house;- of God ? • ' 

The; appointment. of these days of public .prj^yer, and praise is ex- 
pressive of the religieus sentiment of the nation, and may well be re- 
garded as a^iOmen;.fayorabljJ^to. the, 5.|^public. ,The na^on, inofficial 
declaration recp^ize^ , tli^ , b^fj^ of Q^ iw, jHer , , deliverances, and lie^ 
humbly before the throne of grace ; and th^ people— the Christian peo- 
ple of the luud— who are, ia ili-r. the real strength and conservators 



,of ?^IJ.tJiat iSjhqnomble a^,d glorious afici gppd inthe Government — the 
Christian people of the land, endorse the implied and expressed doc- 
trine of a divine providencej, on ^wljich the presidential proclamation 
is based, and meet every where ill their sanctuaries, for the purpose 
of offering up their uniteil thanksgmngs to the G'od of nations for the 
peace which again smiles upon and blesses the land wJbiich they love. 
And this coincides with the faith and practice of the Psalmist, who 
declares that even "the wrath of man shall praise God, and that He 
restrains the remainder of wrath/' We will then, not only rejoice Id 
the return of peace, htlfe praise Grod as the Author o^ it, — upraise Him 
as granting us the triumphs which we celebrate ; and thus we shall 
properly blend our religion with our patriotism-^r if you please — our 
religibn with ou^^ politics^ and our politics with qui religion'. 

Hence we find cause for thanking Grod, i» the general Met that 
the war is over and we have peace once more. 
' '^Qoimdelp-'rmt'eover tKe ohaT<ji<i^r of tk^ pea(^'»Meh'We^cetehr^e, 
Is there not the same reason for thanksgiving to G-od, for fMs as 
for the/ac^ of peace ? What hind of peace is it which prompts cmr 
gratitude' to-day ?' It fe a peace brought about by the absolute tri- 
umph of this government over all the combined' opposition that was 
arrayed against it, — a triumph so complete that not even the shadow 
of a doubt dims its lustre. It is a peace coextensive with the entire 
nation. The great question was, "Can the Republic live?" Shall 
%e continue to be onej or shall the disturbing elements which were 
rio energetically at work burst asunder the fabric of bur- nationality, 
and rell^erse the original design of "many in one?^* Can we have 
peace only by making j?2eces of the country? These^ questions are 
now solved in the peace for which we find cause of thanksgiving to 
God on this festal day. The i?e^«5Zrfr'?feesfand' liver witlt'^ air' biew 
life, andmore powerM than ever. ^^v.:. a: ,. . -, r ;, , 

-'>ofq -^g might have had ^ome kindbf a peace longagd', had" the gov- 
ernment been seduced into unholy compromises which were so- often 
su«-gested, and even urged. We might have had some kind of-H;empo- 
rary quietude, by allowing those "wayward sifters to go-fn-peaieer' 
We might have fixed up a sort of peace by yielding to the dismem- 
berment of the nation — the very consummation at which traitors aim- 
ed^ ati^ fbr which they wfeire praying and fighting — but who botild 






hayc: foil iicl any cai'.sc of j:at^ojud gratitude in such p, result as this? 
Wbp-r'.„Pea€e, by .dissolution I Kejoicings in.sncli a peace, -wliere? 
Not amopg, the liberty loving r^nd loyal of this land. Had this nation 
failed there) ^'ould have been a time of mourning and heaviness such. 
as w,e wish not .now to contemplate.-— Yes there would have been re- 
joicing too! How Absolutism would have laughed ! aud Despotism 
have clanked her chains with insulting glee ! Austria in raptures t 
France in jubilee ! Mother England, so technically neutral and so 
neutrally techinicai — professing friendship and sympathy, but practi- 
cing hostility, how she would have rejoiced, and how she would have 
triumphed in the failure of Kepublicanism in the Western world ; 
how aristocracy and the oligarchies of both hemispheres had exulted ; 
and- the oppressors of the dusky children of the burning zone, had 
held high festival amid the wreck of a dismantled empire of freedom! 
Nos thank God, to-day,— r-those vile propositions that were made from 
time to time, and persisted in by both open foes, and foes in disguise — - 
'Jto compromise"— to.' ;grant an armistice"— "to recognize the wpuld- 
be-nation" — were spurned by the .goverument as unworthy:^ pf the 
freemen of the land : and Crod has given success to the Right ! It 
was said of the Macedonians in Philip's time : '■^Illis jpacerrh e^se heL 
lum^ -et helium^ pacem,''^ — To them peace was war, and war was p^^qe^ 
and such a deplorable peace as this we might have gained, but ho:w 
much better would it have been than a state of unending war ? Thank 
Q-pd, to day, fpr inspiring the millions of the loyal, with an j^nfalt^r- 
iDg faith in our cause, and an unyielding devotion tp the entire fl9,g 
of our country. "We made no treaties, we entered into no alliances 
with the insurgents either in revolt or out of it.^^ We would have no 
^'armistice," no suspension of hostilities, until they were utterly van- 
quished. As traitors we met them, as traitors we foiight them and 
as traitors we conquered them! The war has. not been "a failure ^^ 
but a glorious triurnph ; and noi^.that it 4s so ;well ended, the o-qv- 
erument issues no proclamations, rsigns no treaties, and make^.no cpn- 
cessions, but presents lis. own terms and conditions, and rebels, are 
compelled to bow to the, federal a.uthority. Our peace is a radical and 
general peace. Such a peace is wqrth our thanksgivings, for the., na- 
tional authority has beea fully vihi^ipated^ arid the I^aw. is agam. gur 
preme over the land. 



10 

And still more : — Must not Christian citizens acknowledge the- 
hand of God in the peace which we now enjoy, when we consider how 
thoroughly the great element of trouble in the body politic has been 
eliminated? jMny it not be claimed now as never before, that we 
Have be^n brought to regard the true principle of national honor and 
gIbVy in /'undoing the heavy burdens, and letting the oppressed go 
freef"' "Kighteousness exalteth a nation." Now who does not know 
that "slavery, in spmQ way' or biner, has been at the foundation of all, 
of nearly all our disquietudes for many years ? And who is so polit- 
ically or morally blind as not to be able to see that this very system of 
oppression was jjthe. prime cause of that terrible war from which W6 
have just eiherged ? But'liow is it now? The strife is over, and bet- 
ter than all, the very root of bitterness is removed, as we believe for- 
6Vei./'" You might have compromised with this iniquitous system^ — 
the ''*^sum of all villanies"— from age to age, and yet there would have 
been no lasting peace. In "irrepressible conflict," the antagonism be- 
tween freedom and slavery would have been continued, and like a fes- 
tering' ulcer, though raollified with ointment and seemingly cured for 
a little while, yet unremoved, would have broken out again with fresh 
violence and peril from time to time. Now "the axe is laid to the 
root of the tree," and our present peace gives promise that this poi- 
sonous Upas shall never strike root again in soil vjonsecrated to Free- 
dom, Humanity and God. '^It is the Lord's doing and is wonderful 
in our eyes." And now thanking God for our jubilant peace, must 
we not recognize his providential agency in the removal of that which 
has occasioned all our former natioual sorrow and disquietude ? If 
the remedy has been a very drastic one, the cure has only been ihie 
more radical and permanent, 

~^" Must we not, moreover, acknowledge God's providence in the 
yiety manner in which this glorious result has been attained ? Was 
slavery not destroyed in direct opposition to the designs- of men? 
Were not both friends and foes of the government alike made to sub- 
serve the great ends of freedom and humanity in bringing about the 
peace which we now enjoy — peace with universal liberty ? How was 
it with the insurgents in reference to this subject ? Did they not by 
open profession defiantly make it the very corner stone of the political 
structure which they attempted to erect? Was it not deeply, if not 



•M 

entirely, in the interests of '*tlie pecallar institution/^ that they uii, 
furled the banner of revolt and organized their odious confederacy ? 
And how was it with the national government itself? Did not the. or- 
ganic law of the nation itself effectually prevent any interference with 
that system as it existed in the several States under cover of State leg- 
islation, whatever the men at the head of the Federal government 
might have desired as individuals y But when we come to question 
the Administration, which in the Divine providence was brought into 
power at this time, and which was made the occasion of resistance to 
the Federal government, — when we come to question its policy on this 
subject is it not a fact known to all men that there was no design, nor^ 
desire whatever to interfere with the system of slavery in the^ ^aUs 
where it existed — but on the other hand, the most positive disavowal 
of any such purpose ? I find in the Inaugural Address of the Presi- 
dent delivered in Washington on the fourth of Marcb,. 1861, when 
treason was already developing itself into armed bAttallions all over 
the Southern States, when treason was boldly, vaunting itself under 
the very shadow of the Capitol, and traitors were plotting the assassi- 
nation of the President before he should take the oath of office, the 
following language which is so clear and positive, that there can be 
no misapprehension of its meaning : "Apprehension seems to exist 
among the people of the Southern States, that, by the, accession of a 
Republican Administration, their property and their peace and their 
personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any 
reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed the most ample evi- 
■dence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to in- 
spection. It is found in nearly all the pnbliu speeches of him who 
now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when 
' I declare that I have no piuyose, direct!?/ or indirectli/^ to interfere 
with the institution of slaver?/ tn the states where it exists, I believe 
I have no lamfid right to do so. And I ho:ve no inclination to do so. 
Those who nominated and elected me, did so with the full knowledge 
that I had made this, and made ' many similar declarations, and had 
never recanted them.^' In accordance with these declarations the 
4icts of the administration were carefully directed to the defence of 
th€ government, and the maintenance of the Union of the States — 
and this alone. And did not that noble man, our honored Chief, 



VI 

■ agairi and again declare from his* place at the head lOl" fcli'e government' 
and over his ofScial seal, that his sole purpose was •ithp.iP.&.iutenaii^e of 
the Union— that he "would save; the Union with ^I9.v0r3rj^-r^f,.)i^iqoi{i)d j 
'without it; if it must he ?'^ He would not elevate ^ slaAfery ..above. _his 
country a/nd his God either to save it or to destroy it ; -but ri^i^g )up 
to the true idea of the patriotism demanded by^the 'tdmesji and b^poip- 
ing himself the embodiment of thatidml, he s^t himself tp T^ork to 
save the nation from impending dissolution; and /ruin-t— to -^ave it in its 
integrity as a nation 3 aaid with such dev(5tioii to the 'grand object, .be- 
fore him — hiS' ''country first. and, last,, and-ail the time," ,he^ could not 
do otherwise tha/n to strike down the nefarious system which' stood -di : 
r-ectly in the way of the'co^usummatibh., ofthiB sublime purp;Q3e.»t,'^|id 
not 'untif absolute no:ces'sity coabpeUedihim to do -s()^,;dijl he,la.yft;he 
ha.nd 'of power on "the peculiar institntion/^ and pluck It up by the 
root that 'it might flourish, and blight no more in the ages a-ndigenera;! 
^%i6ns t^ com'e. Do Ve not know' that this system would have remained 
'^'^<iestroyed, 'Cven after two whole years of the most sanguinary fight- 
~'ih'g, 'if the enemks of the 'government had then laid doWn; their arms, 
' and; stibmitted to the federal aiUhority ?r. And do we not "know too, 
'that when that celebrated proclamation of Emancipation v^as. issued on 
'^the firfet-^day ot> January, Eighteen Hundred a;nd Sixty Three, its Jib- 
" elating- pl-ovisions extended only<to certain, designated insurrectionary 
■i^^ktes''a)D:d districts, and left it untouched in others ?. And if slavery 
I©inee''^ea.'.bajB been.ientirely. eradicated throughout the eutitc :nation, 
-iscnd We n(^, sound the jubilee of universal fi'eedom, we can not forget 
stiie^faofc, tha,t the fdestraction of'slav^ry was. merely incid'entcd m- ih^^ 
plans ' and mea^ures^of -.the governments— was only a means in (?rder to 
'^pieserVe the: nation's uaity. Hence we may clearly perceive how the 
Divine Providence employed alike the loyal and the disloyal, in '^ccom" 
plishing this grand march of humanity and religion-: — compelling two 
antagonistic agisncies to accomplish one and the same thing, and that 
tbing moreover, which neither had designed nor desired to bring 
'about, Tha radical peace which we celehrate on this occasion has c(m 
sequently been effected by "Him who has made the wrath of man, ^0 
praise, and whtf has restrained the remaindei* of wrath." ..We; ;there- 
-Tfete, "praise the Lord who ruleth among the nations.". "Man pro- 
p^ud^ymiQco^ disposed,'' 



13 

.^^ We praise God, today, not for DelivcrancG only, but for ,our E;S" 
tabli^liment. Free government is, now no lon^e^ ,a mere experji^'erit 
,^ith us as it has often been called.. What the grand results may" be 
of the gigantic struggle with rebellion and treason through which' we 
have just passed, and what mighty influences this conflict may yet 
send out over the nations of the world can not be predicted — -they are 
known only to God. In his first message to Congress, President Lin 
ppln, made these remarks : ")Two points in our form of governrtieht 
our people have settled : the successful establishing and the sticcegsml 
administering of it. One still remains. ,Its successuil iijaintcnance 
against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it! '\ We thank 
God -because this problem is now solved. The Republic is establisll- 
ed! The ipower of the people is estabiislied ! They have gloriously- 
maintained their own form of government against the most formidable 
opposition that could be encountered. The trial hour came. The tfi- 
^1 hour ^is: past, and God has given us the victory! And wh^t tlie 
President said so beautifully, almost prophetically, in his InaugurM 
address, is now beginning to be verified in a most wonderful manne^r': 
^'The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, "and 
patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone' all over this brdM 
land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, a^ 
they surely v/ill be, by the better angels of our nature." 

There is* another consideration that may well enter into the account 
of our, thanksgiving to day. Through what strange and multiplied 
perils have we not been providentially led in safety. We may not fdi^ 
get , the magnitude of that rebellion with which we' had to contend ; 
but still further, the want of harmony which often existed in the loy- 
.al states, the direct opposition to the' measures adopted for the sup- 
pression of the rebellion, and the wholesale abuse often heaped updh 
the heads of the government, the concealed and even "open treason 
that manifested itself in various parts cf the country and even in ofli- 
:cial positions,, the sometimes crude and even impolitic logislation of 
our own representatives, the extent of corruption, and bribery in va^ 
xious department3|of the government, the "faithlessness and inefficiency 
■qfmany oflici,als, the incompetency and unfitntss ofiien who were 
appointed to le^id.our armies, the difficulties attending the financial ai 
fairs of the nation^ our want of sympathy ampng foreign nations, and. 



14 

the indirect opposition of some that should have maintained an "hon- 
orable neutrality/' but were secretly aiding and abetting our enemies 
and hoping to see popular government brought to nought on this con- 
tinent; — when you consider the combination of powers and elements 
that conspired against our nationality, you may well thank God now, 
in the enjoyment of so glorious and honorable a peace that He has 
cleared our pathway to victory, and crowned us with such distinguish- 
ed triumphs. We may well break forth into songs of praise as we sefe 
tow "Grod has made the wrath of man to praise Him, and how he has 
restrained the remainder of wrath/' Sennacherib's insolent rage has 
been restrained : for Grod hath put "a hook in his nose, and a bridle in 
Ms jaws," (Is. 37 : 29.) and though he permitted him to talk big 
he prevented him from doing what he designed. Then bring your 
sacrifices of praise and thanksgivings, for the "Lord has triumphed 
gloriously ; the horse and his rider he has cast into the midst of the 
sea." Then again, the duration of this war, was, after all, compara- 
tively short; and this maj prompt our thanksgivings. Look at the 
magnitude of the nation's struggle, and consider what momentous in- 
terests were involved — what vital principles were to be incorporated 
into the national life and developed into actual form — what influences 
were to be evolved to bless races and nationalities other than our own : 
—in short — what a wonderful work for Liberty, Humanity and Grod, 
was assigned to our nation — and yet it was all accomplished in four 
short years I The providential position given us was a most remarka- 
ble one; and now since the smoke of battle has cleared away 
jand we have a little leisure to review the field of operations in the 
calmness of national peace, we just begin to realize in the grandeur of 
the achievements how very short the period required for their accom- 
plishment. Popular Government is no longer "a mere experiment"-^- 
the problem has been solved — the power of the people has been thor- 
oughly tried and established — a great empire of Freedom has shaken 
off the mighty incubus of slavery which had been weighing it down 
for years — four millions of human beings have been disenthralled, and . 
a race long oppressed and trodden down, lifts up its twilight visage 
to catch the splendors of the rising day, and with a new life shouts 
back its hallelujahs to the throne of God. Civilization and religion 
have received an impulse which may thrill the nations of the world 






15 

forever ; — and yet only a few years were required to accomplish all ! 
Nor are we insensible to the sacrifices , toils and sufferings required to 
bring about these achievements. Immense armies and armaments had 
to be met and vanquished — a sea coast of many thousand miles had 
to be guarded — ^fortifications in numerous portions of the insurrec- 
tionary states were to be repossessed by the government. Cities and 
states had to be overcome and held in subjection by military power — 
the armies of the nation were compelled to encompass sea and land, 
an,d to engirdle almost the half of a continent with their lines of fire ; 
—and in their onward sweep "from conquering to conquer and con- 
qjiest," we know very .well what tens of thousand's, in obedience to' 
the prorrptings of patriotism, left their boues^to whiten on the hills 
and plains of the South, at once the field of their conflict and glory » 
whilst as many thousands more , in braving the tempest of iron and 
lead, were mangled and torn, and have come back to us bleeding, and 
maimed, and disabled for life — the living and moving monuments of 
the nation's terrible ordeal : we cannot, I say, ignore the incalculable 
cost at which the nation has purchased her present peace with its glo- 
rious concomitants ; — and yet while the conflict was sharp and decis- 
ive, it was still of comparatively short duration. How much shorter 
than any of us could reasonably expect ? How much shorter than 
many prophesied that it would be ? Consider what discouragements 
were continually tjtirown in the way, as the national authorities were 
counselling for the overthrow of the rebellion, and for the mainte- 
nance of the Union — as our generals were leading our armies into bat- 
tle, and our soldiers were falling by thousands : for is' it not a fact 
that in the loyal states those were found who were continually saying 
"the insurgents could never be conquered V Were they not prophe- 
sying continually that the present generation would never see the end 
of this war — their vaticinations all the while betraying their own trea- 
sonable sentiments and feelings ? And had we not men gathered in 
solemn convention, pronouncing the war for the Union "a failure," 
and counselling for negotiating with the enemy, and '^a cessation of 
hostilities V And all the while our patriotic soldiers, conscious of 
the righteousness of their cause, were bravely contending, bleeding, 
suffering, dying on a hundred battle-fields ! Those were the dark 
days of the Rr-rablic. And did not foreign Journals take tip the di«^ 



16 

Heai;tening and co\yardiy refrain as they caught it from our own snoVey^' 
andj spL it back again with increased volume, to paralyze our ener-~ 
gies^ to cliscqurage azf?^ armies, and to inspire our enemies with hope— - 
and thus, did iiot these infiuences all tend to prolong the warj and ta 
defer th^ ,-^awn of peace ? And is it not a fact that leading Journals 
on !3oth sides of the waters enaeayor to make the world believe that 
we, WjCre a nation dissolved andfjiLiined ? But though ifrieuds of the 
nation, often trembled as the prospect seemed gloomy and doubtful, 
and foes became sanguine and joyful, yet, by the blessing of God the 
goyernnieTit remained faithful to its providential mission — and oiir ar- 
mi«s^ on .land and sea, moved steadily forward, gaining victory upon 
yi.ctoryj' until— contrary to every prediction of evilj and beyond the- 
expec1;ations of the most hopeful — the last Rebel army surrendered — 
and the. last gun was fired, when but little more than four years had 
passed away. Only four years,, and so much done I Only four years, 
and ikye_ 'have a general jubilee of peace ! Come now, ye solemn proph- 
ets, /who have had no wprcl of encouTagemen't for your country in the 
hour af trial— ye who have. RV,pei;^ predicted oiir tiiih^, tfhd 

thus, aid^dm protracting the. war^ and in sending suffering and death 
tp thousraids of your '.'country men--eOme now, answer an insulted, 
b^t triumphant nation— ^where is your boasted wisdom, and whence 
did yo]{r.dra;\F^yoTjLr inspiration i JFour years have closed this war! 
]^aTy-.hid§^^PU^;.d^ " .. 

[. '.^ FinalJaj.y^ We may also find an incentive to our gratifiide, when 
we consider -that the triumph of the nation finds the government as 
magnanimous- and ,geixerou3 towards the vanquished, as our peace is 
glorious and deci^iye. ' Th^re is surely something very remarkable— 
jp^Qvi^ientii^lly; ,so^in the nation's attitude toward those so recently in 
arnis,, against it ms„,there.jiqt every thing to arouse the righteous 
judgment of, the nation, against the men that sought its overthrow? 
What insults, multiplied iude^nitely and intensified in bitterness by 
•livery repetition ! , What swaggering threats against all who were pa- 
triotic enough to ivaily- around, the starry banner! How insolently- 
ih^-fciaked^ of unfurling the "black flag !"— fit emblem of the "insti- 
:tutiGn'^ fbr,,which.they were fighting. What cruelties inflicted upon 
4i|Le,aiipfbrtu^^te,ineji,,wbo by the' casualties of war, fell into their 
liands! ' How Libby prison, Belle-Isle, Salisbury, Andersonville and 



iviuured pkces cry to heaven for vengeance 1 How the starved an<i 
famished dead^-^tlirice murdered — in the trenches into which they 
were unceremoniously and vindictively dumped by the thousands as so 
many worthless and eoatemptihle carcasses — how they call for judg- 
ment without mercy against the authors of their sufferings I And 
adding to insult and perjury and crime every ingredient in the infer- 
rnal chemistry of treason to make their crimes doubly criminal, when 
they yet heightened the sum of all their villanics by striking down in 
unpremonished death, the mild and generous, the pure-hearted and 
guileless, patriot President of the nation— was there not enough to en- 
kindle a flame of vengeance in the North that might have swept in 
awful wrath over those insurrectionary plains ? And wherefore are 
the flames not kindled ? How comes it that the thunderbolt is not 
hurled ? Are the loyal men of the land not possessed of the ordinary 
passions of the human race to be excited to vengeance when the hour 
of success is upon tliem ? Have they *.not the power and the right 
too, to make such treason odious forever by making terrible examples 
of those wicked and cruel men ? But what is the fact ? The Lord 
restrains the wrath which might justly burn; and instead of ven- 
geance — instead of well-merited condemnation and punishment the 
voice of mercy sounds aloud over the land, and repentant rebels are 
pardoned by the thousands, and are told to "go and sin no more 1" 
Have we ever heard of such clemency in tfhe conduct of conquerors to 
a foe that had so utterly forfeited all claim to mercy and kindness ? 
Where is the example ? If the administration can be at all chargea- 
ble with any error in regard to the treatment of these men, it is on 
*he side of mercy and not of judgment. Wherefore let us thank Grod^ 
who has inclined the heart of the nation, in the very hour of triumph 
so absolute as to be unquestionable, to mercy unparallelled in the an- 
aals of the human race ! Thank God for a peace so deep — so broad — 
so extensive — so pure — for a nationality so firmly established, and for 
a national spirit that evinces so much love toward all, and malice to. 
ward none. Such is the Jubilee of Eighteen Hundred and Sixty Five. 
And may we remember that peace has her duties and perils as well as 
war, and under the Divine guidance may we be faithful to the high 
tru*^ committed to us as citizens of time's latest and best Empire 1 






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